What is a Jackfruit? A cool tree with epic fruit!

We here at Tree Tribe are big fans of trees. It seems like the list of benefits they provide for the world is endless - one of the biggest being that they produce food! Some of the most delicious things this world has to offer are grown naturally from trees and we want to highlight some of our favorites.

This week we’re going to take a look at a lesser known fruit but one of our fav's - the jackfruit! Have you ever seen this cute little fruit in any of your travels or your local store?

No? then perhaps you've seen what it looks like before the sweet goodies have been taken out.

Jackfruit is grown from a tree that can be found in the worlds lowland tropics. While it’s popularity hasn’t quite caught on in Europe and North America, many countries have this fruit as a staple in their diet. It’s sweet taste and smooth texture are pretty addictive, and if you have ever tried it chances are you’ll be trying to find more of it soon.

Jackfruit is also a nutritional powerhouse for Vitamin B6 which aids in brain function and regulates your mood and body clock. It also contains around 25% of your daily requirement of vitamin C, and about 10% for potassium so you can feel great about getting this awesome fruit in your diet.

Besides providing fruit that tastes great and is good for you, jackfruit trees are also a great source of wood and lumber. It’s soft wood has a golden color that makes it a favorite for furniture and musical instruments where the beauty of the wood can be displayed.

So next time you are traveling to the tropics, or maybe your local grocery store, don’t be intimidated by the giant, spike-covered monster that looks like it just ate a watermelon. Inside is some of the tastiest fruit from one great tree.

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Let’s start things off with a small bit of advice. Start using your travel journal before your trip.

Seriously, you’ll realise how important it is, when you are looking back at your adventures, to record even the slightest bit of planning to ensure that your trips have meaning and purpose.

Before all the memories and ticket stubs begin to flood the pages of your journal, make a list of things you want to see, food you want to try, or dedicate a page to language phrases you can use on the daily.

Fresh out of university after four years studying ecology, zoology and conservation genetics, I was well and truly ready for an adventure.

I wanted to book a plane ticket, pack my bags and head out the door as soon as possible.

But two things were stopping me. Firstly, money. Spending four years studying doesn’t mean you’re exactly raking in the cash. Secondly, when I got back and started looking for jobs, what would an employer think of a recent lengthy, self-indulgent holiday?

How can you buy the sparkle of water?

In THE POWER OF MYTH by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (1988), Campbell states that “Chief Seattle was one of the last spokesmen of the Paleolithic moral order. In about 1852, the United States Government inquired about buying the tribal lands for the arriving people of the United States.”

“The President in Washington sends word he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?”